Confrontations and confessions
by FelicitySmaug
Summary: While hiding in the shadows of their new foundry Oliver witnesses a conversation between Laurel and Felicity. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**So, here's a quick one shot that came out of nowhere, really. AU. More of a dialogue this one. Just... Give it a chance, please? Oh, and this might have some mistakes in it.**

**I don't own Arrow!**

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Oliver opened the back door the their new foundry, not expecting to see the lights on. Frowning, he closed the door quietly, stepping slowly into the darkest part of the room. Fifteen seconds later, he saw the door to the bathroom open.

Felicity walked out, waving her hands in the air to dry them. She sat behind her computers (technically he paid for them, but she insisted that they were hers) and started typing right away, humming some tune quietly.

For the next ten minutes Oliver just stood in the shadows, watching her work. Her intelligence and quick way of work amazed him. Actually, everything about her amazed him. She was so unexpected and he was just happy he had someone like her in his life. Oliver took a step to finally reveal himself when the main entrance door opened. He saw the way Felicity stiffened in her seat at the sound of high-heels clicking down the stairs.

"Oh… I thought I'd find Ollie here." Laurel spoke up loudly, her tone cutting the air.

"Yeah… Well, he's not here." The tone in Felicity's voice showed Oliver that she really didn't want to speak to the other woman. He saw the way Laurel's eyes squinted.

"You know, I could really live without the attitude." Felicity stopped typing and turned around slowly. "Why are you even here? Don't you have a life or something?" Oliver's jaw clenched at Laurel's words.

"I am running some checks, making sure everything's alright. Like I always do." Laurel scoffed. Felicity sighed and rubbed her forehead. Even from here Oliver could see the shadows under her eyes. He had to talk with her, try to convince her to spend less time here. "What, Laurel?"

"You're not here just for that. You're here because you expect Ollie to show up and you hope you'll spend some time alone with him." Felicity's eyebrows rose up and Laurel rolled her eyes. "Come on, Felicity. I'm not blind. Everyone can see that you're in love with him." Felicity's sharp intake of breath only made Laurel smirk. "Well, everyone except Oliver, that is. And you wanna know why? Because he'll never look at you that way. You'll always be the IT girl and secretary. And that's it." Oliver was getting angrier with every word his 'best' friend said. What was she thinking? Who did she taught she was, speaking this way to Felicity? "What? Don't have anything to say? You're not gonna even deny it?" Felicity took a deep breath and stood up slowly.

"What's the point of denying it? It's true." Oliver's heart stopped beating. Wait, what? "What do you want me to say? That you're right? That I know he'll never look at me this way? I know, Laurel. I know he'll never be with me."

"And yet you stay? Are you stupid or something?" Felicity took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to calm herself.

"I'm here because, believe it or not, Oliver needs me." Laurel laughed sarcastically.

"Yeah, as the computer nerd…"

"As a friend, you moron!" Felicity yelled and Oliver saw Laurel jump a little. "I really don't understand you, Laurel. You claim to be his best friend yet you obviously don't know him at all."

"Oh, and you do?" Laurel yelled too and Oliver closed his eyes, hoping they'll soon stop. "You've known him, for like, two years, and you think you know everything about him? I have known him since we were kids. The longest relationship he's ever had was with me. When he came back from the island he was still in love with me. He probably still is." Oliver could see that Felicity was trying really hard to not show how hurt she was from Laurel's words. They were not true. At least not the last part. He was not in love with Laurel. He hasn't been in love with her for a long time. He saw Felicity shaking her head slightly and turning to her computers. "Something you have to say, Felicity?" Taking a deep breath, Felicity turned back to Laurel and Oliver saw tears run down her cheeks. He also saw Laurel's little smirk and it made his blood boil with anger. She took things too far.

"Is this why you came here for? To upset me? Are you happy with yourself, Laurel?" Felicity asked quietly, her hands wrapping around her tiny body. "You know, from the way Oliver spoke of you I had thought that you would be a much better person. The mighty Laurel. The saint. God, how wrong was he." The smirk wiped off Laurel's face, and angry frown taking it's place. "You know, for a while I thought you had a some sort of a right to act this way. I mean, I get it. Your boyfriend goes on a boat with your sister and they both die, but not really, because, as it turns out, they're actually alive and well. You parents got divorced, but they are still alive. Most people would be happy to have their loved ones in their lives but not you. Instead, you wished to blame them for your problems. You used them, and Tommy, as an excuse to get yourself wasted." Laurel was shaking with anger.

"You bitch! How dare you talk to me this way? You have no idea how hard my life has been!"

"I do, Laurel! You think you're the only one that has a fucked up story?" Felicity yelled and pulled up her shirt. Oliver almost choked when he saw her skin. She had a huge, ugly scar on her abdomen, a little below her belly button. It was pale and it showed Oliver that she'd had it for a long time. "You see this? This is what my mother did to me when my father left us! She was constantly drunk and one day, when I accidentally broke her last bottle of vodka, she just lost it. She just grabbed a piece of the broken glass and stabbed me with it. My own mother stabbed her seven year old daughter!" Felicity let her shirt fall back down and brushed her tears away. "Do you know how it feels to hear your own mother say 'I wish you were dead'? Do you know what it is to be a little girl, that constantly blames herself for her father's leaving? Do you know what it is to go to bed every night and to wish to just not wake up?" Oliver closed his eyes, trying to not let tears escape his eyes. Oh, if only he'd knew about her past… But how could've known when he never asked her? "You think I'm doing this for Oliver's attention? I'm not. I am doing this, because this is one of the few things in my life that actually make me feel like it's worth to keep living. When I joined Oliver and Diggle in this crusade I've never thought things will get this huge. All I wanted to do was help him, because I saw that he needed help. Somewhere along this journey, I don't even know when, I fell in love with him, knowing he'll never look at me the way he looked at you. And it hurts but I am still here. You want to know why? Because he's my friend. It's what friends do, Laurel." Felicity finished quietly, never taking her eyes of the other woman.

"And what if he comes back to me? What if he still does love me? Will you still be here?"

"Yes, Laurel. And if he chooses to spend his life with you and I see that he's happy with you, I will be happy for him. As I said, it's what good friends do."

"You're blaming me of not being a good friend? How dare you? Who do you think.."

"That's enough, Laurel." Oliver finally spoke, coming out of the shadows. Both women jumped at his voice. "I think you've said enough for today." He said with a cold voice, not even looking at her.

"Ollie, I was just…"

"Don't." He growled out, his voice dangerously close to his 'Arrow' one. "You should just leave." Laurel's eyes grew big.

"But…"

"Just leave, Laurel!" Oliver yelled, finally looking at her. "I don't want to talk to you right now. I can't even look at you. Just go." Muttering under her breath, Laurel turned on her heels and climbed the stairs, slamming the door shut behind her. But Oliver did not cared for her right now. He cared much more for the woman in front of him. The woman who looked at him with fear and sadness in her eyes. She looked ashamed and it made Oliver's heart clench with pain. He did not wanted her to feel this way. She did nothing wrong. "Felicity…" He whispered at the same moment her body started shaking. He quickly moved to her and wrapped his hands around her body. Oliver held her until she calmed down. When her shoulders stopped shaking and she was finally breathing normally, Oliver gently pulled away from her and moved her slowly to her chair.

"I am so sorry. She just made me so angry." She whispered and Oliver shook his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Felicity. I heard everything she said and if anyone should apologize it's her." He cupped her face and she slowly leaned into his touch, closing her eyes. "When you told me about your father… I didn't think it was this bad." He felt her freeze for a second before she sighed quietly.

"Now you know why I don't talk about my family." She said quietly and the only thing Oliver could was nod.

"Do you want to talk about it now?"

"What's there more to say? He left, my mother lost it… That's pretty much it." Felicity just sighed at the look in Oliver's eyes. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this right now. It's… It's too painful. Please." She practically begged him not only with her voice, but with her eyes too. Oliver just nodded. Who was he to demand from Felicity to tell him everything? He still kept a lot of things from his past to himself, he had no right to expect from her to tell him her whole life. "When did you came in? I did not heard the door open."

"While you were in the bathroom." Felicity's eyes went wide with surprise.

"And you just stood in the shadows for at least ten minutes just watching me? That's just creepy!" She said in a voice much closer to her normal one and it made Oliver smile. He brushed the traces of her tears with his thumb and Felicity blushed. "You heard everything?" She asked so quietly, Oliver barely heard her. He half smiled at her as he nodded. "Oh… I… I don't really know what to say. Which is a first." Felicity said and Oliver laughed quietly.

"You don't have to say anything, Felicity." He whispered. He slowly started pulling her face towards his and the last thing he saw before closing his eyes, was Felicity's surprised ones.

The moment his lips touched hers, Oliver was lost. It was a sweet, innocent kiss that lasted not more than five seconds and yet, Oliver's heart was beating hard against his chest when they pulled apart.

"Felicity, when was the last time you had a good night sleep?" Oliver asked quietly, staring at the bags under eyes. Felicity shrugged her shoulders and he sighed deeply. "Come on." Standing up, he extended one of his arms for her and she took, standing up slowly. "Get your coat. We're going to your place." Realizing how his words sounded, Oliver quickly glanced at Felicity's face and he blushed. "I did not mean it like that."

"Like what?" Felicity asked curiously and Oliver groaned.

"You know what." Helping her put her jacket on, Oliver grabbed her hand with his and walked her towards the stairs. "You need sleep. I'll drive you back home, make you a nice cup of tea and you'll go to bed. That's it."

"Okay." Felicity agreed quietly and followed him.

The drive to her apartment was quiet. Felicity just stared out of her window, thinking about everything that had happened earlier. Oliver knew. And he did not said nothing. But that kiss… It was a small kiss, not something from her romance novels. So why did her lips were still burning?

"Felicity? We're here." She was so deep into her thoughts she didn't realized Oliver had stopped the car. Blushing, she undid her seatbelt, grabbed her bag and got out of the car. They walked quickly into her building and climbed the stairs for her floor. Oliver noticed she was swaying a bit. "Are you okay?" He asked worried. Suppressing a yawn, Felicity looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm alright. More tired than I thought." Finally approaching her door, Felicity started searching for her key. When she didn't found it in twenty seconds, Oliver moved from behind her and unlocked the door. "You have a key for my apartment?" She asked, lifting her eyebrows in surprise. Walking inside, Oliver took of his jacket and left on her couch.

"I made it a couple of months ago. After the whole Slade thing I thought that it wasn't a bad idea to have a key to your place." He explained while he walked into the kitchen. Taking her coat off, Felicity left with her bag right next to his and followed him.

"Do you have a key to Digg's place?" Felicit asked while she was watching him pour water into her kettle.

"Yeah. But he doesn't know. So don't tell." Smiling, Felicity relaxed into one of her chairs. The next thing she remembered was her lying in her bed and Oliver leaning over her. He covered her with the blanket and started to move away when Felicity wrapped one of her hands around his wrist.

"Stay." She murmured and heard him sighing tiredly.

"Felicity, I don't…"

"Please. Just stay with me." She had closed her eyes again. Ten seconds later, she heard Oliver shifting around and she felt the bed move under his weight. Smiling, she turned around to face him, still opening her eyes. She let her head fall on his chest and wrapped one of her arms around his waist.

"Felicity?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too." Felicity opened her eyes slowly and looked at him.

"What about Laurel?" Oliver placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I haven't been in love with her for a long time. I understood that today. Tomorrow, she will too." Sighing, Felicity closed her eyes and buried her face deeper into his chest.

"Okay. Can I go back to sleep now?" Wrapping his arm around her, Oliver pulled the blanket over them and smiled in the dark.

"Yes, yes you can. Goodnight, Felicity."

"'Night, Oliver. See you in the morning." Still smiling, Oliver closed his eyes and finally relaxed his tense body, dreaming about the woman beside him. It was the best sleep they both have had in a while.

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**I promise I don't hate Laurel! In every story I've ever written I've never portrayed her like a bitch. I just needed her to be one in this story. Please don't hate me!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I was thinking about leaving it as a one shot, but the story wouldn't just leave my head. I hope you enjoy chapter 2! :)**

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Oliver opened his eyes slowly, forgetting for a moment where he was. The arm around his waist and the warm breath on his chest made him look down in a slight confusion. When he saw Felicity's relaxed face and her slightly opened mouth, he smiled and calmed down.

And then he remembered how they ended up like this. He remembered Laurel's words and how upset Felicity was. He remembered the tears running down her cheeks, the pain in her eyes, how broken her voice sounded when she defended herself to Laurel. Something she shouldn't have done in the first place, because Laurel had no right to act this way towards Felicity.

"Oliver, what's wrong?" Felicity murmured suddenly, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looked down and saw that she still had her eyes closed. Sighing, Felicity lifted her head and looked at him. Lifting her right hand, she placed it on his chest. "Your heart is beating really fast. What's wrong?" She asked again, a bit harsher than before. Oliver just shook his head, took her hand in his and brought it to his lips.

"I was thinking about yesterday." Oliver felt Felicity freeze for a moment. She slowly sat up, not looking him in the eyes.

"Do you regret it?" She asked quietly, looking at her nails. Oliver gently cupped her face and turned her head towards him. Covering her lips with his own, Oliver tried to show everything he felt for her in the kiss. When they parted, Oliver rested his forehead against hers.

"I have done many things in my life for which I regret, Felicity. This is not one of them." He whispered and kissed her again. This kiss was nothing like their previous two. This one was pure lust. Felicity moaned when Oliver bit her lower lip and he used the moment to sneak his tongue in her mouth. He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her on top of him, making Felicity squeal with surprise. One of his hands slipped under her shirt. The touch of Oliver's fingers burned Felicity's skin.

Pulling away from her, Oliver dropped his head on one of her shoulders and started breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm himself down. Sighing with pleasure, Felicity let her hands sneak around his neck and just held him closer to her. They stayed like that for a minute before Oliver's phone started ringing. Cursing quietly, Oliver pulled away from Felicity and took his phone in his hand.

"Who is it?" Felicity asked worried, seeing the angry look on his face.

"Laurel. I can't believe this." He was going to hit 'Ignore' but Felicity stopped him.

"You have to talk to her, Oliver. No matter what, she's still your friend." Oliver looked at her for a few seconds before answering the call.

"I'll be at your place in thirty minutes. We need to talk." He didn't even waited to hear what Laurel had to say. Felicity just shook her head. "You're too good to her, Felicity. After yesterday I'm not sure she deserves it." Cupping his face, Felicity kissed him again.

"As I said, she's your friend, Oliver. She's been one for a long time. Plus, everyone deserves a second chance. And if we don't get out of bed soon I will be late for Roy's first lesson of 'How to use the computers without pissing off Felicity'." Smiling, Oliver gently brushed her forehead with his lips.

"You're remarkable, do you know that?" Felicity smiled too.

"I do but thank you for remarking on it."

olicityolicityolicity

Before he even knocked on the door, Laurel opened it. Oliver squinted as he noticed the way she was dressed. Laurel was wearing one of his old shirts and had no pants on.

"Well, hello. Come in." She said with a sweet voice that made him sick. Why was she like that? Why couldn't she just give up? Oliver walked into her living room and turned sharply towards her. Laurel froze in her place when she saw the look in his eyes. "Ollie, I…"

"Don't, Laurel. I am only here because Felicity convinced me that you deserve a second chance." At the mention of Felicity's name, Oliver could see Laurel narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, Felicity told you? Is this how it's going to be from now on? She tells you what to do and you listen like a puppy?" Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why was he even trying? He thought that after she forgave Sara and accepted her back in her life, Laurel would be able to move on and stop looking into the past. Apparently, that wasn't happening.

"Felicity does not tell me what to do, Laurel. And even if she did it wouldn't be any of your business." Laurel lifted her eyebrows with surprise. "I came here to tell you that you need to apologize to her. Your behaviour yesterday was more than unacceptable."

"My behaviour? What about hers?"

"You provoked her! It was your fault!" Oliver yelled and his voice echoed through her apartment. Shaking with anger, she turned his back on her and started taking deep breaths. "When I was on the island the thought of you was what pushed me through. Staring at your picture was what kept me sane, what gave me hope to never stop fighting. When I came back I thought that we were supposed to be together but I realized that I was wrong. I wasn't in love with you. I was in love with the idea of coming back here and continuing things from where we left them. But that was impossible." Oliver turned back to face her and saw tears in her eyes. But the time for him to be moved by Laurel's tears was long gone. "After Slade I thought that we could finally be friends and I believed that we actually were. That was until last night. Until I saw the way you were treating one of my other friends." Laurel took a few steps, approaching him slowly.

"But you're here. You're here." She said with hope in her voice and Oliver shook his head.

"Because of her! Because she made me come here and try to reason with you!" Oliver spoke up impatiently.

"Why does her opinion matters so much to you, Ollie?" Laurel asked, still not understanding. Oliver looked her in the eyes and said with pure honesty:

"Because I love her." Laurel's eyes went wide like she did not expected this answer at all. "I'm in love with her, Laurel. I have been for a while." Laurel finally seemed to understand his words. She slowly backed away from him and sat on her couch. "I'm sorry, Laurel, but it's the truth." When she didn't looked at him, Oliver sighed and turned towards the door.

"I hope she makes you happy." He heard Laurel's broken whisper and stopped walking.

"I've never wanted to hurt you, Laurel. Not before the island, not after I came back. I'm sorry." With that, he walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.

olicityolicityolicity

"You wouldn't dare!" Oliver heard Felicity yelling as he walked down the stairs. Roy was holding a cup of coffee over the keyboard, making it look like he'll spill it. "ROY! If you do this I will personally shoot an arrow through your brain!" Oliver approached Diggle slowly and nodded at him.

"More like stab me with an arrow. I'm pretty sure you can't work with the bow, Blondie." Felicity lifted one of her perfect eyebrows. Never taking her eyes off of him, Felicity grabbed Oliver's bow from the table beside her and aimed it at his right eye, making the smile vanish of his face,

"Do not underestimate me, Roy Harper." She smirked and turned to her right. It took her only a second to find her target and shoot the arrow, hitting the bullseye.

"How… I… What?" Roy murmured and it made everyone laugh. Felicity, hearing Oliver's deep chuckle, turned her head at his direction. Blushingly, she left his bow on the table carefully and walked back towards the computers. Diggle, noticing the blush, squinted his eyes at Oliver but the other man had already started walking towards Felicity. Grabbing one of the free chairs, Oliver placed it next to hers and relaxed in it.

"Did it went well?" She asked quietly and Oliver shrugged his shoulders.

"I think so. I think she needs some time for herself." Felicity nodded and squeezed one of his hands. "How come you've never told me that you were good with the bow?" He changed the subject quickly, not really wanting to talk about Laurel at that moment.

"Well, you've never really asked…" Felicity's answered and Oliver laughed loudly, bringing the others man's attention on them. He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her palm. "You're remarkable." Felicity's cheeks were red as tomatoes.

"You already told me this earlier." She whispered and they could almost hear Diggle's eyebrows rising up. Smiling, Oliver brushed his thumb across her cheek.

"I know. I will stop saying it when you stop being remarkable."

He was sure it wouldn't be any time soon.

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**So, I think that this is finally it! To be honest, I don't like this as much as I liked the first chapter but I needed it out of my head!  
**


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